Video: Denis Hayes at Climate Leadership Gala 2018

Remarks at our 2018 Climate Leadership Gala from Denis Hayes, our Board Chair Emeritus and the organizer for the first Earth Day in 1970.

How’s this for a humble way to begin his speech? “A lot of things came out that first Earth Day and we mostly know about them: the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National Marine Animals Act. It rolls off. There were about 15 pieces of important federal legislation in five years. And Richard Nixon, not exactly an environmental champion, set up the Environmental Protection Agency with an executive order — and made the decision to do it on the afternoon of Earth Day. So it’s a decent legacy….” Full speech below.